New 3D Printing Method Is Faster, Thanks to Light

What can’t you 3D print these days? This still-magical feeling technology lets everyone and their little cousin conjure everything from sneakers to guitars to bridges to fake body parts inside a box. And the processes are only getting more advanced. A new 3D printing technique provides high-quality results in seconds thanks to the power of light.

Normal 3D printing involves building objects one additive layer at a time. That’s why the results have that tell-tale segmented look unless you sand down their surfaces after the fact. It works, but along with the relatively low-resolution the current methods just take time

However, thanks to the researchers at Switzerland’s Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), we now have an alternative avenue to explore. EPFL’s technique uses tomographic imaging derived from medical scans to create a blueprint for the model. The printing process itself spins the raw fluid plastic material inside the enclosure while passing lasers from all directions harden it into the correct shape nearly instantaneously. The 3D-printed test arteries were “extremely encouraging.”

Check out the printing in action.

Currently, the downside to such a precise process is the limited size of printed objects. EPFL has printed 2cm objects within 80 micrometer accuracy. But those limits will surely grow with iteration. If they can make 3D printer pens, they can make bigger light-based 3D printers. As long as 3D printing guns is still illegal, I say the future still looks bright. For more on 3D printing check out these fabricated helmets, football gear, and dog skulls.

This article was first featured at https://ift.tt/2SJzTPk on February 14, 2020 at 04:07PM by Jordan Minor